our blog is about two friends living in different countries sharing our experiences and passions.
Monday, December 28, 2015
Life Is An Earthquake
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Happy New Year
This year was hard I lost friends and other people I cared about. I started a new job and ventured into new and scary things. I battled things I never thought I would have to face in ministry, work, friendships, and my own personal life. My appendix ruptured and I was in the hospital for a long amount of time because everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I had heart breaks and sad days. There were times when I sat in room and cried in despair and there were times when I screamed and through things against the wall. It was by no means an easy year. It was draining, stressful, confusing, and emotional.
It wasn't all bad either. In fact in some ways it was amazing. I was accepted for an internship in Thailand starting next summer. I had amazing adventures with my friends and family. I made incredible friendships and memories. My "baby brother" was born and my family gained two new children through foster care. I went to PBR and explored Devil's Den. By God's provision 95% of my hospital bill from my surgery was covered by financial assistance. Christ revealed his love and grace to me over and over even though I failed him time and time again. I spent time with those I loved doing what I loved. I read new books and wrote new stories and began brand new chapters in my life.
No this year has not been easy but it has been rewarding. I just want to say Happy New Year and give you some hope. This year had moments that I thought I couldn't survive but I did. No matter what has happened or what will happen you can survive. You will survive. Yes life hurts sometimes but it is also a joy sometimes.
If I spend so much time in distress over my hospital bill that I miss the joy in having a baby brother to love then I'm really not living am I? So, no matter what happens or comes your way take time to enjoy the mountain highs even while you're stuck in the valley. Happy New Year!!
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Disney Challenge
Tangled, it's my favorite movie period...not just my favorite Disney movie. I love it!
2. Favorite Princess
Rapunzel (obviously)
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Why You Need To Watch Girl Meets World
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Y-Studs
Monday, August 10, 2015
Saying Goodbye Sucks
Three interns, Holli, Ben, and Megan, all graduated from their undergrads year a few days ago and I consider all of them to be great friends. Holli and Ben are sticking around...Megan is moving back to Wisconsin. It sucks.
Every time I say goodbye to my sister I get a little teary but I also know she's my sister and she'll always be around. I'll see her again and we'll talk on the phone and the distance may ache but we're still with each other. Saying goodbye to friends isn't that way. In all honesty we don't if or when we'll see each other again. We don't know for how long or how consistently we'll stay in contact. Maybe we made a friendship that will last a lifetime and span the distance, like I've been blessed enough to have with Kate, or maybe we'll cry and miss each other and try for a while and then wake up one day and realize we haven't talked in months. At the moment I can't fathom that happening and I'm still crying over what I feel I've lost, but that could very likely be the reality that's facing me.
Anyway, so we gathered in Hurts Donuts for our last hoorah and shortly after getting some deliciousness my sister and Holli's family left (we're from the same town so they took my sister home), we went outside and told them goodbye, teared up, and had to go back inside. The real blow came when we get back inside and Megan's mom is standing up and saying it was time to leave at which point I lost it and started bawling. The flood gates had opened in the middle of a donuts shop and there was no stopping it. We ended up in a loft away from everyone in a very strange group hug, Holli, Megan, and I, and cried. There was no way I was letting Megan leave me. Who else was I supposed to fangirl over The Jonas Brothers with? Or watch High School Musical? Who's clothes was I going to steal? Who would be able to be Megan and Kaitlin with me if I have no Megan? No one.
Eventually we went back down took pictures in which I'm sure we were all red and blotchy and Megan left and I was left with the ache of another goodbye and the hole that takes away your breath when you feel like you're losing someone that means the world to you. It sucks and that feeling hasn't gone away yet and I don't know when it will. I haven't really stopped crying and I don't know when that will happen either. All I know is through goodbyes and separations life will go on. It has to. There is no grand life lesson or revelation in this post other than this bit of encouragement. We all go through goodbyes and loss and we all survive. So, when you're facing a goodbye that you think might kill you remember this, it will not kill you, your will survive, and you're not alone.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Life Sucks, Walk In Faith
Monday, June 15, 2015
All My Harry Potter Lists
Saturday, June 13, 2015
20 Minutes With Thurman
He was fine for a while and then he started getting anxious and got up and went to look for his wife and my co-worker talked to him and got him to calm down and sit and he was fine. A few minutes same thing. After the third time he was getting very anxious so my co-worker went to tell his wife and I just decided to go sit with him. I've never been around someone going through that so I honestly didn't know if my presence would help or if it would make him more nervous. I grabbed a couple Missouri Conservationist off of our magazine rack and sat down next to him. He was really excited that I knew his name, and he introduced himself to me and I to him and then we looked through one of the magazines together. He told me about how much he loves fishing and how he's always wanted to go quail hunting.
A few minutes into our conversation he literally blinked once, looked at me and went, "Hi, I'm Thurman...do I know you? Have we met?" I told him we had just met and we were new friends and told him my name, he relaxed and started looking at the magazine and he told me the same stories. This time he told me he was born in 1925, and he wasn't sure how old that made him but he was pretty sure he was 35. A few minutes went passed and soon we had to do introductions again. At this point I started to tear up because I couldn't even begin to imagine what this was like for him or his family. How awful this must be for everyone who loved him. It broke my heart to have to imagine having to go through this. Gently, Thurman reached over and took my hand.
"Don't cry, I don't like seeing people cry, there's no sense in it. There's so much badness in the world but you can't let it steal your joy. I would never do anything to make anyone feel bad. I believe in working hard, believing in each other, love, and kindness. We must always be kind to those around us, always care for everyone. We can't hurt each other, we need each other too much."
About that moment his wife walked by and waved at us on her way to the register. Thurman lit up, "Do you see her? She's mine...isn't she beautiful?" I nodded and told her of course she is. His eyes softened and he held my hand tighter, "she's the kindest woman I've ever known. I just couldn't stand being with a woman who was unkind or cantankerous, nope couldn't handle that. But her, she's so kind and gentle. She'd do anything for anybody, give you the clothes off her back, she's just like that. She's an incredible woman that one is."
After that we just sat silent, hand in hand, waiting for his wife to come through the check out. She did and when she came out she thanked me for sitting with her husband, but really I was the one who should have been thanking her. As he got up to go he turned around to shake my hand, "It was nice meeting you young lady, maybe I'll see you again real soon." If I ever do see Thurman again he won't remember me, he won't know he ever sat with me on a bench inside of a store. I however, will never forget Thurman. Even in the midst of all he was going through he didn't forget the important things. He didn't forget who he was, and he didn't forget to pass on his wisdom. Thurman is right we have to believe in hard work, each other, love, and kindness because there is so much darkness in the world. We have to remember that we need each other and not to let the world steal our joy.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Thailand
I had to stop and think and really pray about that question. I mean in this internship I get to go to Thailand and work with Sex Trafficking victims and do what I love and what I'm called to do. Haven't I said before that I would give my life to help these people and to be able to pursue my dream? I've said it but did I really mean it?
Now, I'm not saying I think I'm going to Thailand because I don't really, but would I be willing to go if there was a 100% chance I would die. That was the question I had to ask myself, that's something I had to deal with and pray about. How far am I willing to go when it comes to serving the Lord. It's a question we all have to ask ourselves. After a lot of prayer and sleepless nights I applied. I signed up said I wanted to go. As soon as I did...peace. The fear I had been wrestling with, GONE. The doubt, gone. Anxiety, gone. All of it was gone. By being inside the will of God I had peace that extended beyond the list of bad things that could happen to me. It's a peace that extends beyond death.
I'm still nervous, but I'm not scared anymore because I know I'm preparing to do what God has called me to do. I'm not scared because I know that no matter what happens to me while I'm there it will be worth it. It will be worth it all.
P.S. Expect lots of updates as I begin fundraising for this incredible journey! I leave Fall 2016 and it's going to be amazing.
Monday, April 27, 2015
being productive while procrastinating
It has been ages since I have last written anything. Not because I haven't thought of anything good. More or less because I have not had time. If you look at my rough drafts I have written quite a few just none good enough to get published. Then as I was sitting here supposedly folding laundry I decided to take a break and tell you a bit about what I have been going through in the last few month.
These last few months have been a whirlwind of chaos and emotion. After a series of unfortunate events I lost one of my best friends. We were just to the point we cared about different things and couldn't have made it work. He was really one of the few people in my life who knew everything. I went from that heart break to having a couple of the really close family members move away. After that heart break I found it hard to write about the good things when I wasn't feeling it. In that moment of feeling down I decided what I needed was a relationship. When really the last thing I needed at that moment was a relationship. I needed God. When feeling alone and looking for a relationship I went to the place everyone who feels alone goes to look for a relationship. Online. That in itself should have been a warning flag to me. But it wasn't I talked to some really nice guys and some really sketchy ones. I ended up settling on one guy I felt I could talk to and may even have a possibility of a relationship with. He seemed nice, was a bit older and had a pretty good job. Sadly though he did not love Jesus (that should have been another red flag). But I went along with it because I felt alone. We kept seeing each other and kept moving forward in our relationship. He said we would move as slowly as I wanted and that seemed awesome to me. But even though he kept saying we would move as slowly as I wanted, he would keep pressuring me to do more. Soon I had laid all my morals aside and we started getting pretty physical. No we didn't sleep together but we did do quite a bit of other things.
Still sadly I felt alone if not a bit more so. At that point I had drawn away from my Christian friends and those around me that I generally go to because I felt like I was living in such a way that they would not have approve of who I had become. In that place I found God. I was in Missouri visiting my family and friends. Away from the loneliness in my head and in front of King of Kings. In that moment I realized that I am truly not alone no matter how it feels God is there. In the calm after your world has crashed God is there. God is there when you feel worthless or alone. God is there when you don't think you can go on any longer. He is in it all. It was an awe inspiring moment. Had you been there you probably would not have even noticed but it meant the world to me.
Then of course after the moment of awe inspiring filling of God there is always a moment of clarity on your life. Or at least that generally seems how it is in my world. In that moment I realized how much I had bent and broken for a guy I barley knew. I guy I didn't even have strong feelings for, and that is when the shame set in. But again God was there in that moment bringing to my realization his awesome love and grace. Yes there were things I had done in that dark place that I shouldn't have but that doesn't matter at the end of the day. I am nothing more than a human but God still loves me for that. And in that moment all that mattered to me was the love of God and how Great he is. That totally pulled me back to my calling which is another story for another day.
In the last weeks and a bit since that happened I have down a lot of changing in my life to recenter it around God. I broke up with lame boy and have used that time to start reading and studying my Bible again. I have also made an effort to continue Christian relationships in my life. I know there is a long way to go before I complete my calling in life and while I am working toward that calling I am going to stumble and of course I am going to have days where I feel completely alone. But those are the moments I need to follow Jesus to the cross and go to him.
But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah may rest (yes, my pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!! -2 Corinthians 12:9
Crowhead